I used 2 wraps of 23mm tape on those rims. Panaracer Gravel Kings set up tubeless with no issues.

Good move, there’s some great riding up here!

Will said epicyclo

Don’t take a caravan around the NC500 – tow it to a nice site somewhere in the Highlands, and take your time to explore. Don’t take your RS5 and drive it like you want to. We’re getting really fed up he’s with drivers of over powered cars treating the roads as a race track. It might be fun for you, but it makes life hellish for other people on the road, including cyclists.

That’s great news!

Why wouldn’t I?

I bought one of those kits from Amazon. It’s actually not too bad, more crude than the GoPro stuff, but perfectly useable.

If the weather turns wintry the are plenty of places where snow can be an issue on the roads, it’s not all on the coast! For example, Dundonnell to Braemore junction is pretty high and exposed. It’s best to keep an eye on the weather forecasts, and be prepared top be flexible with your route and timings. Also, bear in mind that Scottish winter road conditions are different to the Alps. Ice is a really big issue up here in winter, not something that snow chains will help with.

In my experience most ferry operators require you to book your bike. P&O give a friendly little prompt on their booking system if you book one bike and 2 passengers, checking that you are riding a tandem. DFDS count a tandem as 2 bikes, and booking has to be done by phone – their website can’t cope with booking 2 people and bikes.

I’m in. Good motivation.

Another vote for the Exposure Trace R here. I see used one for a couple of years now, and it’s taken everything that I’ve thrown at it. I’ve only ever challenged the battery life on multi day rides.

Ok, after my too brief post last night, trips this year:
Sagres in Portugal to Durness,

Oslo to Molde

Moskenes to Tromso in Norway – joining Mrs Felltop, who is riding the length of Norway

Then next month we are riding from Narbonne to Ansterdam on the tandem – it’s a busy year….

On the Lofoten Islands, now…..

No way is 3 days enough. If that is all you have, choose which part of the Highlands you want to spend time in, and enjoy your time there. Otherwise you will only catch glimpses through a window.

Saw Nelson Trees heading down the road to Strathcarron at about 9pm tonight. Going well, seemed quite relaxed. Cold night for those biviing tonight, the temperature dropped to 1 degree as I rode over the top from Achnasheen to Kilochewe.

It’s finally stopped raining on the west coast. Brighter skies moving in. This could be a race of 2 halves!

Its VERY wet out here in the West today. River levels were very low until a few of days ago, but if it carries on like this……. I may pass a few riders on the road to Ullapool tomorrow morning!

Good Highland weather for type 2 fun…

Go via Dingwall. Avoid the A9 at all costs!

Just a quick thought – you could catch another train from Inverness to Lairg, and start from there?

Of such things adventures are made! 5pm arrival gives you about 5 and a half hours of workable light up here at this time of year. Enjoy 😁

We’re planning a trip on the continent in early autumn on our tandem. We’re have a custom built Landescape tandem, my wife is quite tall, and all the odd the peg options were too short in the top tube for her. 200mm discs, Hope vTwin 4 piston brakes give all the strong power we need. We’ve been over Ventoux, so this seems to be powerful enough!

Logistics for getting to and from the continent with a tandem appear complicated. Trains are hit and miss, planes…… so, we are travelling out to Montpellier on the European Bike Bus Express and riding back to Amsterdam. Overnight ferry back to Newcastle, then train back to the Highlands. LNER are tandem friendly on some services, including their Inverness train.

Am I alone in thinking that the best solution is to drive within the limits set by law??

Heading off to France in ours on Thursday. It easily swallows 2 full suss 29ers, 2 road bikes and far more other stuff than we really need! Most people (us included) who use them to carry bikes unbolt the 3rd row of seats. We do re-fit them occasionally, to create a massive level platform for sleeping in the vehicle.

@whitestone – enjoyed that film, especially as I went for a ride up to Loch na Sealga from Gruinard Bay this evening!, To answer you question about the path – the missing 2.5km do exist on the ground, but it’s pretty faint, and largely unrideable. As for the rest of it, I’ll have to go and find out!!

Letterewe do still use ponies. Unfortunately they keep them on the Carnmore track, in the woods near Kernsary during the winter. One of the reasons why its become ing a mudbath. Gruinard Estate also use ponies.

Packrafting Lobh na Sealga would be superb, especially in a westerly breeze. Alternatively, I recently ran the path on the south side of the Loch. Parts of it are surprisingly rideable. I’m hoping to make a circuit out of what I call the “Trans Fisherfield” from home this spring using this route.

Yes, Letterewe estate drive up the track via Kernsary to the west end of Fionn Loch, the use a boat to Carnmore.

Whitestone – many years ago there was a bridge across the river, a little way upstream from Larachantivore. It was had fallen into disrepair when I first saw it in 1982. These days the estate access Larachantivore by boat along Loch na Sealga. If the water level is not too high, it’s usually possible to Ford it just downstream from the buildings.

Corrie Hallie to Poolewe direction gives you the sublime descent to Carnmore, whilst the unrideable section out of Strath na Sealga is taken in ascent. Done it a few times – it’s my local ride!

Corrie Hallie to Poolewe is a classic. Don’t even think hook of trying to ride the direct path to Shenavall…. Strath na Sealga river crossings are usually ok if there hasn’t been too much rain for a day or so, be prepared to turn back though. If you can’t sort the logistics for a point to point, Poolewe to Carnmore and back is great.

A good alternative to tjagain’s route is out from Second Coast to Fionn Loch, short walk to pick up the (much rougher) track back to Aultbea.

Whitestone’s route from Loch a Bhraoin to Corrie Hallie via Lochan Nid is really good, and best done in that direction.

I find that the Postie Path makes a good day out on foot…

Compleated 1996 on Ben Lomond.
Compleated again 2017 on Ben More (Mull).
I don’t quite know how it’s happened, but I seem to be more than half way through my third round. Perhaps it’s just because I love being on and around the Scottish hills.

Given up on Lezyne lights. Badly sealed, got to the point where I simply didn’t trust them after 2 failures, so ran multiple lights! Poor backup and attitude from UK importers was disappointing too.

The Vercors. Superb road cycling. We’ll be going for our fourth trip there in April, taking mountain bikes as well as road bikes this time.

Used Malagacar last February. Had a reasonably well used Renault Kangoo for a week. Perfect for the two oy us plus a couple of bikes. Price and service were both really good.

I swopped out the genesis bars on my Fortitude for some decent Easton alloy jobs, mainly as I wanted to go wider. Really noticed the difference in comfort. Wish I made the change earlier.

Experimented with Gravek King SK tubeless on 23mm rims. Settled on 38 rear,36 front.50 50 on / off road. Feel fast on tarmac, grippy and comfy off road. Got me round 200km of Dirty Reiver with no punctures!

Replaced our Peugeot Partner with a Ford Torneo Grand Connect. Masses of space, although it’s best to unbolt the 3rd row of seats to get the best out of it. Nice enough to drive, not bad on fuel.

Re the route suggested by tjagain from Kinloch Rannoch. I did it on a gravel bike a couple of months ago, starting from Laggan, clockwise. Well worth doing. I made it 77.5 miles, but that did include a detour to the cafe at Corrour Station.

Up for this, depending on the date. Relatively convenient location for me!

I waited 5 months for a Fairlight Strael frameset. It’s pretty special, and was worth the wait.